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A BRIEF SKETCH 



THE LIFE, CIVIL AND MILITARY, 



JOHN A. QUITMAN, 

MAJOR GENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE U.S. 



" Talibus viris non labor insolitus, non locus ullus asper, aut arduus erat, non armatus hosLis 
formidolosus ; virtus omnia domuerat." 



WASHINGTON : 

RITCHIE & HEISS, PRINTERS 

1848. 



> 



A BRIEF SKETCH 



THE LIFE, CIVIL AND MILITARY, 



JOHN A. QUITMAN, 



MAJOR GENERAL IN THE ARMY OF THE U.S. 



•' Talibus viris non labor insolitus, non locus ullus asper, aut arduus erat, no?. cLrmat«s hostis 
formidolosa.s ; virtus omnia demuerat." 



WASHINGTON:^ 
RITCHIE & HEISS, PRINTERS. 

1848. ♦ 



MAJOR GENEML JOHN A. QUITIAN. 



Several biographical notices of this distinguished individual have re- 
cently made t?ieir appearance in the public press in different parts of the 
country. They are all highly complimentary, and are evidently designed to 
gratify that rational desire in the American people to know something of 
the lives, the sentiments, and character of those who have rendered them 
important services. These sketches, however, are all imperfect, in giving 
severally but detached portions of his life, and are in many particulars 
inaccurate, from the want of correct information on the part of those who 
have prepared them. Under these circumstances it seems to be due to 
the public, as well as to General Quitman himself, that a more correct and 
comprehensive narrative should be presented. Such a narrative, embracing 
only the principal incidents of a busy and eventful life, can scarcely fail to 
be interesting to all; and to the young it may prove of real service, if they 
will attentively consider the principles of action, and observe the line of 
conduct, which have led an unfriended youth to wealth and fame. 

The grandfather of this gentleman held an important and responsible 
office under the great Frederick of Prussia, and is understood to have en- 
joyed the personal regard and confidence of that monarch. His father was 
also a native of Prussia, and was educated in the celebrated University of 
Halle, in Germany, where he graduated with the highest honors of his 
class. The liberal principles and free sentiments common to that and 
other German universities v/ere freely imbibed by the young student, 
and doubtless determined his settlement in America, the theatre upon 
which was to be solved the interesting problem of mane's capacity for self- 
goxxrnment. He arrived first in the Dutch island of Cura^oa, in the 
West Indies; whilst there, married a daughter of the governor — a lady dis- 
tinguished no less for her beauty and attainments, than for her family and 
connexions — and was accompanied by her to tlie United States, soon 
after the close of the Revolution. This gentleman, the late Rev. Dr. 
Frederick Henry Q,uitman, was equally distinguished for his piety and 
talents and for activity and energy of character. Having the pastoral charge 
of the two Evangelical Lutheran churches in Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, 
New York, and being for many years president of the general synod 
of that denomination in the United States, he performed his v-arious duties 
with exemplary zeal and ability, and died at the advanced age of 72, 



6 

share in all the measures and movements tending to improve^ harmonize, 
and ameliorate the condition of its society. 

In 1824 he married Miss Eliza Turner;, the only daughter of the late 
Henry Turner;, esq., of Virginia, and niece of Chancellor Turner, of 
Mississippi, the same lady who accompanied the general on his recent visit 
to Washington and some of the northern cities, and by the charms of her 
character won so many warm regards wherever she became known. 

At the general election in the State of Mississippi held on the first Mon- 
day in August, 1S2T, he was elected by a very large majority overall other 
candidates to a seat in the popular branch of the legislature from the county 
of Adams, and, as a member of the judiciary committee, soon became 
prominent for activity, sagacity, and ability, even among such men as the 
late Judge Pray and the present distinguished Chief Justice Sharkey, of 
whom the committee was composed. Upon this theatre of action his 
reputation for habits of business and talents rapidly expanded; and in the 
very next year, and before he had attained the age of twenty-nine, he 
was appointed by the governor (the legislature not being in session) to 
the distinguished and responsible office of chancellor of the State. He 
held this office for the uninterrupted period of six years,*and, it is worthy 
of remark, by no less than three several appointments. First, by appoint- 
ment of the governor during the recess of the legislature, as before stated. 
Secondly, by unanimous election of the legislature at its next meeting. 
And lastly, after the adoption of the new constitution, which made the 
office elective by the people, he was elected by the great body of the peo- 
ple of the State, without any opposition whatever. These two last appoint- 
ments, made after full trial and experiment of his conduct in that high 
office, mark, perhaps more unequivocally than any other test that can be 
named, the high estimate placed upon his services. His decisions as chan- 
cellor were very numerous during the period he held that office, and are 
universally admitted to have been distinguished for beauty of style, force 
of argument, and legal acumen. Embracing as they did, in the incipiency 
of this branch of jurisprudence in Mississippi, many novel questions, and 
containing sound expositions of the law applicable to theni;, they con. 
tributed a valuable addition to the existing authorities and precedents, and 
well entitled him to be regarded as the father of chancery law in that State. 

Whilst holding the office of chancellor — namely, in the year 1831 — he 
was elected a member of the convention called to revise the constitution 
of the StatO;, and was placed at the head of the committee on the judiciary 
in that body. He was uniformly on the side of liberal principles. To 
enumerate the various measures introduced or advocated by him in the 
convention; indicative of his sound statesmanship and his settled confi- 



dence for the happy working of our system in the only true source of civil 
authority, would swell this notice beyond any reasonable compass. One^ 
however, is too significant and important to be wholly overlooked; namely^ 
a proposition to prohibit the legislature from borrowing money or pledging 
the faith of the State for the purpose of banking. This proposition he 
pressed with great zeal; and notwithstanding much opposition; procured its 
adoption in a somewhat modified form as part of the fundamental law. 

We can fully appreciate the political forecast and judgment that suggested 
this proposition only by reflecting through what an existing glare of profit 
and success in the banking system, dazzling to the eyes of almost every 
one, was the danger perceived in the distance; and how much embar- 
rassment, not to say distress, the State would have escaped, if the re- 
striction he introduced had been fully and faithfully observed. In many 
of the States which have since revised their organic law, a similar 
restriction has been introduced, and it is not to be doubted that both they 
and Mississippi will in the end reap the happy fruits of this important fea- 
ture of a republican constitution, first introduced by this gentleman. 

In the year 1834 General Q^uitman resigned the office of chancellor, 
which he had filled with so much honor to himself and with such general 
satisfaction to all branches of the community, for the purpose of devoting 
his time to his private affairs; but he was not permitted to remain long in 
retirement. In the following year he was elected to the State senate. 
Whilst a member of this body a vacancy occurred in the office of governor 
of the State, and the senate was convened, by proclamation of the act- 
ing secretary of state, for the purpose of electing a president of that body, 
to perform under the constitution the duties of governor. The choice fell 
on General Quitman. Of his address delivered on the occasion, the con- 
cluding paragraph need only be given: 

"Allow me again, in conclusion, Senators, to express my deep and a^rateful 
sense of the high confidence you have reposed in me, and my firm determina- 
tion, while I shall avoid the assumption of doubtful powers, to meet the respon- 
sibilities and duties which the constitution and laws impose on me, with manly 
firmness." 

He continued to hold the offi.ce of president, byre-election, as long as he 
remained a member of the senate. As may well be inferred from his ac- 
tion in the convention, he opposed the extension of the banking system, 
and voted against the establishment of the proposed Union Bank. 

The message which, as acting governor, he delivered to the legislature at 
its meeeting in January, 1836, was regarded at the time as a ^^ masterly 
production;" and even now that the interest of many of the subjects of 
which it treats has expired, no one, it may be safely affirmed, can rise 
from its perusal without according to it this character. The design of 



8 

this sketch being to give, from the Hmited materials within present reach, 
some idea of the turn of mind and the opinions, as well as the events of 
General (Quitman's lifcj a few paragraphs from this message, touching topics 
of the most general character, will not be inappropriate to the purpose. 

1. On the tendency of our system to centrahsm: 

" To those who recognise the principle that the constitution of the United 
States is a solemn compact between sovereign States, and that the government 
created by it is an agency established to execute certain defined trust powers 
for the common benefit of the States, no apology need be offered for a brief 
allusion to our federal relations. Indeed, the very idea of trust powers is ne- 
cessarily associated with the superintending power of the political communi- 
ties by whom they are delegated. Restrictions and limitations arose in a jealous 
spirit of liberty, and by jealous and unceasing vigilance alone can they be pre- 
served. Whatever may have been the opinionsr of patriotic statesmen of the 
tendency of our complex political system at the period of its formation and 
adoption, the experience of nearly half a century has now shown, to the satis- 
faction of the attentive observer of our political history, that its inclination is to 
centralism. ^^ 

" Those who feared, in the structure of this noble fabric of human wisdom, 
that the power delegated to the different departments of the federal government 
would be scarcely sufficient to preserve the edifice from the assaults of State 
pride. State ambition, and State prejudice, regarded it with the naked vision. 
They did not imagine that their successors might view it through the false and 
magnifying medium of sophistical construction! much less in the golden age of 
patriotism, which followed the chastening aliUctions of the revolutionary strug- 
gle, was it anticipated that the power, the patronage, and the fiscal means of 
the general government would ever be used as the instruments to control the 
freedom of elections, to overawe the spirit of republican independence, and to 
perpetuate power in the hands of those who might wield it." 

2. On the right of the State to regulate its domestic institutions: 

"The morality, the expediency, and the duration of the institution of slavery, 
are questions which belong exclusively to ourselves. It would degrade the 
character and prostrate the dignity of a sovereign State to step down into the 
arena of controversy and discuss the morality, the propriety^ or wisdom of her 
civil institutions, with foreign powers or with self-constituted associations of 
individuals, who have no right to question them. It is enough that we, the 
people of Mississippi, professing to be actuated by as high a regard for the pre- 
cepts of religion and moral,ity as the citizens of other States, and claiming to 
be more competent judges of our own substantial interests, have chosen to 
adopt into our political system, and still choose to retain, the institution of do- 
mestic slavery. It might be supposed that a just respect for the opinions of 
the people of twelve States would have prevented the bold and unqualified de- 
nunciation of this feature of our social system that has characterized the discus- 
sion of this subject in non-slaveholding States; but this is not the first instance in 
which the modesty of sound philosophy has been set aside, to give place to the 
conceited assurance of bigotry and prejudice." 

3. On the subject of free trade and State improvement: 

" Having ever entertained opinions opposed to comm.ercial restrictions of 
every kind, believing it unwise policy to force trade into unnatural channels, or 
build up markets by legislative compulsion, I shall not be found the advocate of 
any measure justly liable to such objections. 



9 

''Industry and capital are most productive and yield the most abundant fruits 
when left free to the most profitable investment. 

''An absolute monarch, wiser than his benighted subjects, and in the posses- 
sion of unlimited power, might venture upon the experiment successfully; but 
a republican legislature, representing an enlightened and enterprising people, 
would be most unprofitably engaged in such a task ; yet it would be no less un- 
wise in such a legislature to refuse a helping hand to open new channels for 
trade, establish new branches of industry, or create new markets, when private 
enterprise had pointed the way, had counted the cost, and was ready to defray 
the expense. Mississippi is already an important agricultural State. The value 
of her exports of domestic products is estimated to amount to one-sixth of 
those of the Union, and to exceed those of all the New England States ; yet 
nearly all the wealth and resources of her citizens go to swell the power, the 
influence, and the commercial importance of her sister State of Louisiana, be- 
cause commerce is a more important element of national greatness than even 
agriculture, from which it derives its vitality." 

4. On education: 

" I will not be deterred by the triteness of the subject from most earnestly 
calling your attention to the cause of education. The constitution imposes its 
encouragement on us as a sacred duty. When we reflect that in our political 
system every freeman partakes in the administration of the government, how 
important is it not that the means of acquiring general as well as political 
knowledge should be placed within the reach of every man. Upon the intel- 
ligence, the wisdom, and the virtue of the great mass of the people, the suc- 
cessful and happy operation of our social system entirely depends. A govern- 
ment thus constituted cannot be conducted and administered wisely, if the 
sources from which it derives its momentum be buried in ignorance and error. 

"In monarchical governments the heir to the throne is educated at the pub- 
lic expense. Why should not the same care be taken in republics to com- 
municate at least the elements of knowledge to those who are to become the 
rulers of their destinies ? 

" Instruct the youth in the rudiments of knowledge, and he possesses the 
fulcrum and the lever by which he can control the most difficult sciences. To 
attain this all-important end, I recommend to the legislature the adoption, as 
early as possible, of an effective common-school system. Should it be deemed 
premature, in consequence of the sparseness of population and the unsettled 
condition of portions of the State, to adopt final measures upon the subject at 
the present session of the legislature, it may still be placed in progress by au- 
thorizing the governor or some suitable individual to prepare and lay before the 
next session of the legislature a plan based upon such general principles as you 
may establish or he may devise. Until the establishment of a general system 
of common-school education, it would be but vain ostentation in the State to 
build up seminaries for instruction in the higher branches of learning." 

About this period an event occurred upon which General Q,uitman's 
own feelingS; as well as the general conviction of his prudence, activity, 
and bravery, called upon him to play a prominent and benignant part: 
namely, the invasion of the then province of Texas by a large Mexican 
army under Santa Anna. Some notice of the services he rendered, and of 
the timely relief he afforded to the suffering inhabitants, cannot be wholly 
omitted; and may prove a not uninteresting episode in his life. 
2 



10. 

In tlie spring of 1836 information reached Natchez, and spread through- 
out the United States, that Santa Anna was marching upon Texas with an 
army often thousand troops, threatening desolation to the country and ruin 
and destruction to the inhabitants. It was stated and beHeved that his 
design was to lay waste the whole country, exterminate the entire white 
population, and plant a colony of the Indian and colored races, for the pur- 
pose of establishing a barrier and check to the growing power of the Uni- 
ted States. Soon followed the. intelligence that he had invested Bexar, 
then defended by Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and others, had carried the 
Alamo, and massacred its brave defenders. A considerable emigration had 
taken place in the few preceding years from the neighborhood of Natchez, 
as well as other parts of the State, to Texas, and many of those who 
had been ruthlessly butchered, as well as those yet exposed to the like 
barbarity, were either nearly related or personally known to many of its 
citizens. The impression produced at Natchez was such as might have 
been justly expected under such circumstances. In the midst of the most 
intense excitement a public meeting of the citizens was convened, and Gen- 
eral Quitman was called upon to preside. All eyes were turned on him 
as the proper person to conduct any enterprise that might be determined 
on; and when he consented to lead the chivalrous body of young men that 
offered their lives for the defence of outraged humanity, nothing could sur- 
pass the enthusiasm of the meeting. But his consent was strictly limited 
to the object of affording present relief, under the impending danger, both 
to the little army of Texas and to the deserted and exposed families. A 
much larger force offered to enrol under his command, to attach them- 
selves permanently to the Texan army; but being still President of the 
senate and the head of a family, his public as well as his domestic obliga- 
tions manifestly forbade any such engagement. 

With his characteristic promptitude of action, on the fourth day from the 
time of the meeting he set out with about sixty young men, well mounted 
and armed. Passmg rapidly through the State of Louisiana, on the fifth day 
he crossed the Sabine at Gaines's ferry; and having been joined by a num- 
ber of Louisianians on the march, the moment the party set foot on the 
Texan soil he was unanimously elected their leader, with absolute power. 
With a rifle, a pair of pistols, a short sword or bowie knife, a blanket and 
a tin cup each, two mules laden with ammunition, and two with provisions, 
the generous band rapidly proceeded, drawing their food from the buffaloes 
and deer of the prairies— its grass their couch at night, and the canopy of 
heaven their shelter. They soon learned the defeat and massacre of 
Fanning and his brave men in the plains of Goliad ; that General Houston, 
with his small but devoted band; was retreating before the overwhelming 



11 

force of the enemy, and that a body of 1,500 Mexicans and Indians, col- 
lected m the vicinity of Nacogdoches, had produced the general convic- 
tion in the red lands that the country was lost; and they accordingly met 
men, women, and children flying in crowds, and panic-struck, towards the 
Sabine, for safety. Cheering and encouraging these wretched fugitives by a 
bold and undaunted front, the gallant band proceeded directly onward to 
cover the retreat of the defenceless families; and finding Nacogdoches de- 
serted, except by a handful of brave men, who, under Raguet, Irwin, 
Gaines, and Captain James Smith, had determined to sell their lives in 
defence of the town, took a position along with them in it. This decided 
and timely movement, aided by the advance, about the same time, of some 
United States troops under General Gaines, deterred the enemy from the 
attack, and doubtless prevented the whole country around from being 
deluged with blood. Remaining at Nacogdoches a few days, and until 
the safety of the town seemed assured. General Quitman resumed his 
march westward, watched by an Indian force that hovered on his right. 
He crossed the Trinity, three miles wide, at Robbins' ferry, and in doing so 
had the happiness again to bring assurance and relief to the flying inhabit- 
ants, who, to the number of several hundred, were retreating under Major 
Montgomery. Here he was informed that General Houston intended to 
attempt to defend the passage of the Brazos, at Fort Bend, against the im- 
mensely superior force of the enemy. To this point he directed his march; 
but learning on the way that the Texan troops had dropped down the 
Brazos in boats, and were retreating towards San Jacinto, he turned to the 
south and moved, almost surrounded by the enemy, towards Harrisburg. 
On the third day after the battle of San Jacinto, which practically sealed 
the independence of that beautiful country, he came up with the victori- 
ous army, still encamped on the field of battle. The history of the results 
of this great and astonishing victory is familiar to all. In a few days the 
Texan cabinet arrived. A treaty was made with Santa Anna, stipulating 
for his release and the withdrawal of the Mexican troops from the whole 
Texan territory; and General Quitman, remaining with the armyof Texas 
only long enough to Joe satisfied that the latter stipulation was in the 
course of fulfilment, prepared to return. He refused many urgent solici- 
tations and flattering off"ers to join the Texan army, but the motives al- 
ready hinted induced him to decline. His object in coming had been 
fulfilled; and having made provision for the young men who accompanied 
him, and who preferred to remain, he set out in July, 1836, upon his 
return by the lower route, across the great gulf prairies, accompanied only 
by a single servant. His adventures by this wild and unusual route, in- 
fested by outlaws and robbers, would of themselves furnish the materials 



12 

of an interesting romance. On one occasion, a few miles from his resting 
place the overnight, he was confronted at some distance by three robbers, 
and to his dismay found the charge of his pistols and those of his servant 
had been drawn ; but, cool in danger^ however imminent, he quickly 
dismounted, and sheltering himself behind his horse, loaded a pistol, and 
had fired and broken the arm of one of his assailants before they had 
come near enough to make their attack. Upon this, they all fled. The 
space proposed for this sketch does not admit of the introduction of other 
anecdotes of this hazardous journey. 

It would be unfair to dismiss this portion of the sketch without advert- 
ing to the grateful sense which the people of Texas have retained of Gen- 
eral Quitman's timely and effective succor. Individuals may be ungrate- 
ful, and republics are said always to be so. But this, if true — though it 
undoubtedly is not — can only be so in their political capacity, and not in 
respect to the communities, considered merely as individuals, of which 
they are composed. Texas felt that he had no motive for the privations 
he endured, and the perils he encountered, but to succor the aged, the 
feeble, and the delicate; and several generations will probably be cast be- 
fore its people will forget how many he was the instrument, under Heaven, 
of preserving from the knife of the blood-thirsty Indian, and more remorse- 
less Mexican, or from even still greater atrocity. 

As General Quitman had thus lent his timely aid to prevent the desola- 
tion of the country, and to shield its inhabitants from threatened extermi- 
nation, so he was the earnest and one of the most effective advocates of 
its annexation to the United States. As early as May, 1844, a public 
meeting was called at his instance in Jackson, Mississippi; and as chairman 
of a committee raised for that purpose, he draughted a constitution, and 
an association was thereby established, of which he was president, with 
the declared object of promoting, by all quiet,- legal, and constitutional 
means, the immediate annexation of Texas to the United States. Pro- 
vision was at the same time made for anniversary meetings, the election of 
officers, and for committees to correspond with similar associations which 
might be established, and with other friends of the cause throughout the 
United States. 

The effect of this leading movement upon pubUc sentiment was soon 
manifest. Auxiliary associations were speedily organized in other parts of 
Mississippi, as well as in the States of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and 
Louisiana: popular enthusiasm was aroused, and was effectively manifested 
at the presidential election which followed, by greatly increased majorities 
in favor of the party pledged to carry that measure into effect. 

In the year 1839 he visited Europe, accompanied by the present Judge 



13 

Thacher, of the high court of errors and appeals of Mississippi, on busi- 
ness of the Mississippi Railroad Company^ and not for the purpose of 
selling State bonds, with which he was never at any time or in any man- 
ner connected. Upon his return he was appointed by the governor of the 
State a judge of the same court of errors and appeals, to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the death of Judge Pray. This appointment he declined, 
in consequence, it is believed, of finding himself involved in unexpected 
embarrassments, and the paramount necessity under which he felt to apply 
himself diligently to discharge the obligations which had produced them. 
These embarrassments were solely on account of his friends. Most of 
those for whom he had become bound held property, which at even very 
moderate prices would have been sufficient to relieve him; but so great 
and ruinous had been the fall of prices and the prostration of credit — far 
more in Mississippi than other States, in consequence of the general fail- 
ure of the banks — that he was left actually indebted, after the sacrifice of the 
property upon Avhich he had relied, more than one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. But difficulties, so far from subduing such a man as Q,uitman, serve 
only to call forth the greater energy necessary to overcome them. On this 
occasion he retrenched his family expenses; he greatly extended his crops; 
and returning to the bar, and bestowing upon its business his wonted devo- 
tion, soon made it uncommonly lucrative. By these means, and without 
the sacrifice of property, in a few years he had fully discharged all these 
obbgations. It is due to him, as well as to his accomplished partner in 
business at this period, (J. T. McMurran, esq.) to say that their extraordi- 
nary success in practice was not attained without bringing them in profes- 
sional conflict with the most eminent of the Mississippi bar, including, then 
and now, gentlemen of superior talents and high legal attainments. 

Distinguished as General (iuitman was as a legislator and a lawyer upon 
the bench, and in the executive, it is not upon his services in these several 
relations solely, or even chiefly, that his estimable reputation rests . Warmly 
ahve to his duties as a citizen towards the community in which he lived, 
and as man to his fellow-man, he was ready at all times to accord his 
time and his talents to promote the plans devised for elevating, refining, 
and improving the condition of his fellow- creatures. In proof of this, it is 
only necessary to state his connexion with various societies and institutions 
having these objects in view, at the period in question, viz: 

President of the Society for the Suppression of DuelUng; Director of the 
State hospital; President of the Board of Trustees of Jefferson College; 
Trustee ofthe State University; of the Lyceum; and of several hterary asso- 
ciations, &c., before which he occasionally delivered appropriate addresses. 
And these offices he held not merely for the honor he received or confen-ed , 



14 

but as a pledge of his interest in the objects at which they aimed^ and of 
his services and influence in promoting them. Of the anti-duelUng society 
he was the father; the author of the code it adopted for the adjustment of 
disputes; and had the satisfaction of seeing many personal difficulties 
composed, which, but for it, must have resulted in bloodshed. He has re- 
ceived the honorary degree of A. M. from the college of New Jersey, and 
more recently that of L.L. D. from the college of La Grange, Kentucky. 
The multiplied and diversified labors growing out of the positions and 
offices indicated, but few men could have accomplished. But General 
Quitman is blessed with a frame requiring but little sleep, and capable of 
great endurance, and he has cultivated the habit of making his time, his 
minutes, effective. 

In turning from General Q,uitman's civil to his military life, it seems 
appropriate to remark that it would be a great mistake to suppose that he 
was altogether untaught and inexperienced as a military man, when called 
upon to take a prominent part in the present war. He had not indeed the 
advantage of an education in the Military Academy of the nation at West 
Point, the benefits of which many of its pupils have so. signally displayed 
in the campaigns in Mexico, nor had he ever held a commission in the 
regular army; but he had well and carefully supplied these deficiencies by 
study, and by every other means in his power, under a sense of duty as a 
citizen, in order that if ever called upon to serve and defend his country, 
his services as a soldier might be creditable to himself and useful and effect- 
ive to her. The increasing expense of military establishments; the sepa- 
ration of numbers from the industrial pursuits; the habits contracted of im- 
plicit obedience on the one hand, and of arbitrary command on the other; 
in short, all the dangers to liberty of standing armies which suggest them- 
selves to the mind of the republican statesman, inclined General Quitman 
to look to the regular miUtia, or its volunteer associations, as the 
true and natural resource of the country in times of danger; and having 
connected himself, at his entrance upon active life, with a military com- 
pany, and continued his connexion with other companies successively, 
he became more and more convinced, from greater experience of the ma- 
terials of which they are composed, that this resource may be fully relied 
upon as sufficient in every case of emergency. It is a singular circum- 
stance, and doubtless a gratifying one to him, that in both his campaigns — 
from Matamoras to Monterey, and from Very Cruz to Mexico — both as 
brigadier and major general, he has commanded the volunteer troops. 
And it may be fortunate for the country that the correctness of his opinion 
has been abundantly vindicated by unsurpassed achievements on the part 
of his favorite description of force. ,/^ 



15 

But to recur to the story of his life, and to some of the opportunities he 
has had of acquiring a knowledge of the practical duties of a soldier : and 
in the first place it may not be unworthy of remark, as indicating an early 
turn of mind, that even at the age of twelve years, whilst at school at 
Schoharie, New York, he raised a company of cadets amongst his fellow- 
students ; and, by drilling them every Saturday, brought them to a respect- 
able degree of proficiency and accuracy in their exercises. Durino- his 
short abode at Delaware, Ohio, he was elected and commissioned, by the 
governor of that State, first lieutenant of a volunteer company of riflemen. 
Upon his removal to Natchez he joined a troop of horse, and, as a non- 
commissioned officer, instructed them in the sword exercise. Soon after 
he was appointed brigade inspector, and in the spring of 1824 was elected 
captain of the Natchez fencibles, a volunteer company organized at that 
time, and continued to command it for ten years. This beautiful and 
well drilled company was the pride of the Mississippians and the admira- 
tion of all who observed it. In the peculiar condition of Natchez, both 
in respect to its colored and part of its white population, this company is 
not to be regarded as an association merely for preparatory exercise and 
instruction, but of real use and constant necessity, to overawe the refracto- 
ry and disorderly, and to maintain and enforce the law. It was composed 
of the most influential and prominent gentlemen, and was maintained in 
'he highest state of discipline and efficiency. To command with applause 
,ach a body of men, implies no ordinary degree of personal and mili- 
tary merit — a tone of command tempered by the refinement of the gen- 
tleman, with prudence and personal courage equal to every emergency. 

In 1S3T he was elected by the people a major general of the militia of 
the State, and continued to hold that office by successive re-elections until 
he entered the service of the United Slates, in 1845. The legislature had 
already, as early as 1830, conferred upon him perhaps a still higher honor 
by requesting him to prepare a code of regulations for the organization and 
government of the miUtia of the State, and by adopting the entire body of 
comprehensive and detailed rules he submitted, with but very slight modi- 
fications. To mark its sense of this service, and perhaps as a compliment 
to his well known political sentiments, the legislature presented General 
Quitman with an elegantly bound set of the works of Jefferson. 

Upon the breaking out of the war with Mexico, the patriotic action of 
Jongress in making provision for its prosecution, by authorizing an in- 
crease of the regular army and a large volunteer force, and the still more 
patriotic action of the people in tendering their services for the latter, are 
matters of familiar history. Enjoying in the bosom of his family the fruits 
of a long course of well directed industry^ and distinguished in station 



16 

and influence among his fellow-citizens, General Quitman had not the 
mere desire of place or emolument to lead him to engage in the war ; but 
he had other and higher motives. He had been the advocate of that great 
national measure which Mexico had assigned as the pretext for her inva- 
sion, and it was at least as much his duty as that of any other good citi- 
zen to become a part of that description of force upon which he consid- 
ered it the true national policy to rely in such an emergency. His exam- 
ple could not be without its influence in inducing others to rally to the 
exigency of the country, and he felt no hesitation to risk his life and his 
reputation upon the sufficiency of an army obtained by the spontaneous 
enrolment of American citizens, to maintain the rights and honor of the 
country. 

Six brigadier generals were appointed for the volunteer force, whose rela- 
tive rank, determined by lot, stood as follows : 

1. General Marshall, of Kentucky. 

2. General Pillow, of Tennessee. 

3. General Hamer, of Ohio. 

4. General Lane, of Indiana. 

5. General Q^uitman, of Mississippi. 

6. General Shields, of Illinois. 

In thirty-six hours after orders reached him, General Quitman had left 
his home, and was on his way to the army of General Taylor, which he 
joined at Camargo about three weeks before it advanced in the direction of 
Monterey. In this movement General Taylor determined to embrace but 
two thousand of the most efl^ective of the volunteers, and accordingly se- 
lected for it the first Kentucky and Ohio regiments, composing Hamer's 
brigade, and the Tennessee and Mississippi regiments, composing Quit- 
man's; the whole forming a field division imder the command of Major 
General Butler. The march was commenced early in September, 1846, 
and proceeded by brigades, attended by all the suffering and distress ari- 
sing from a burning sun, arid and dusty roads, scarcity of water, &c., with 
raw troops yet uninured to hardship, and enfeebled by the process of accli- 
mation. The column reached Monterey on the 17th September, weary 
and dejected with toil, privation, and sickness. But the first heavy gun 
fired by the enemy was sufficient to restore it to animation. The discharge 
was met by one spontaneous cheer from front to rear. The invalids sprang 
from the wagons, and in a few minutes the whole column was completely 
formed in compact order, and marching as if upon parade. So auspicious 
an indication of the temperament of raw troops could hardly be mistaken 
by one v/ho, from experience as well as position, was truly and essentially 



17 

an ojicer of volunteers. A suitable position was found for encampment a 
the Walnut Springs, about three miles from the city. 

The battle of Monterey occupied the 2lst, 22d, and 23d September; 
there was no actual fighting on the 24th. The city was defended by 42 
pieces of cannon, and by nearly 10,000 men. In front was a line of forti- 
fications, constructed with great skill; the extreme right of which, flanked 
by the river San> Juan, was Fort Tanneria; and the extreme left, com- 
manding the whole plain, the Citadel, or Black fort. Between these points, 
on a line receding in the centre, were Diabalo, Rincon, and ditete dupont, 
Purissima; the several works supporting one another. In the rear or 
western part, several exterior forts and batteries on the ridges and slopes 
defended the approaches from the direction of Saltillo. Various minor de- 
fences were constructed within the town; and the houses, built of stone, 
with flat roofs, and parapets, could be and were used for the like purpose. 
The American force consisted of 6,600 men, with 16 light field-pieces, 1 
iO-inch mortar, and 2 24-pound howitzers. 

On the evening of the 20th September General Worth was detached, 
with the 2d division, consisting of 1,600 men, to turn the fortifications 
which protected the city in the rear. He acted with equal promptitude, 
gallantry, and skill. During the 21st and 22d he had taken all the ex- 
terior forts, and occupied the 23d in making his way through the centre 
of two lines of houses, to a position ready to attack the plaza on the 24th. 

To make a diversion in favor of Worth, Garland's brigade of reg- 
ulars, 640 strong, on the morning of the 21st, was ordered against the 
line of fortifications in front of the city, first described. He behaved with 
the greatest gallantry, attacking Fort Tanneria, then penetrating into the 
city, and finally attacking the ttte du pout, but was in each instance un- 
successful, notwithstanding the loss of many men, and was obliged to re- 
tire without having gained any advantage. Buder's division of vol- 
unteers, already under arms at the distance of a mile and a half, rapidly 
advanced to his support, leaving the Kentucky regiment and a company 
from each other regiment to defend the mortar and howitzer battery. The 
remainnig regiment of Hamer's brigade, (the Ohio,) led by that general, 
and accompanied by Generals Butler and Taylor, moved to the right, 
whilst duitnian, separating himself, moved to the left with the Mississippi 
and Tennessee regiments, against Fort Tanneria. Bufler and Hamer, with 
the Ohio troops, encountered the most continued and destructive fire, and 
acted with the greatest gallantry. They penetrated into the town; but 
finding it impossible to make any impression upon the works. General But- 
ler, upon being himself severely wounded, and surrendering the command 
to Hamer^ ai vised him to withdraw it to a less exposed position. Advancing 
^ 3 



18 

• 

by the left flank; and ordering the Tennessee regiment, armed with mus- 
ket and bayonet; to file past the Mississippi rifles , Quitman moved right 
against the enemy, encountering successive discharges of shell and round 
shot, grape and musketry, from the redoubts, as well as from the roof of a 
strong building to the rear and left of Fort Tanneria. The fire was terrific. 
It seemed as if a volcano had suddenly burst forth, and was rolling its 
streams of fire and death all around. The general had just been struck, 
but not disabled; by a fragment of a shell; and here his horse being shot 
under him, he mounted that of his aid; Lieutenant Nichols. Believing, 
from the precision and rapidity of the enemy^s fire, that a retreat would 
be nearly as destructive as an advance, with true valor he determined to 
storm the fort. The volunteers rushed forward with enthusiastic gallant- 
ry, and in a few minutes he had carried the works, and established his 
foothold in the town, though with the severe loss of more than 150 out 
of the 700 he had led to the attack. At night the brigade was relieved 
and marched back to camp; and the captured post occupied by some regu- 
lar troops, including a battery of artillery under Ridgely. 

The 22d passed without any active operations by our troops in the 
lower part of the town. 

At noon the regular troops, except Ridgely 's battery; were withdrawn , and 
the fort was again occupied by Quitman and his brigade of volunteers. 
Whilst advancing to the fort; and for the residue of the day whilst defend- 
ing it, they were exposed to heavy fires from the enemy's lines, which 
they were unable to return with effect. In the midst of the dead bodies 
of Mexicans, horses, and mules, the night cold and rainy, without blanketS; 
and with but a single room for shelter; the troops lay down in mud; ankle- 
deep. The utmost vigilance was indispensable- the general himself post- 
ed the guardS; and having made a close reconnoissance to observe the 
movements of the enemy under protection of Whitfield's company, was left 
the privilege of one of Ridgely 's gunS; for his headquarters; for the night. 

The diversion on this side the towU; to favor the operations of Worth on 
the v/est; had by these successes now become in point of fact the main 
attack. 

During the night of the 22d the enemy evacuated the strong works near 
Quitman's position; upon which he had meditated an assault the next 
morning. Reporting this fact to General Taylor; he immediately sent him 
instructions; leaving it to his discretion to enter the city, covering his men 
by the houses and walls ; and to advance carefully as far as he might deem 
prudent. Placing himself at the head of a sufficient forcC; he ascertained 
the fact of the evacuation of the works, took possession; and immediately 
entered the city. In the city he advanced from house to house; and square 
to square; through courtS; gardens, and houseS; until he reached a street but 



10 

t)ne square in the rear of the principal plaza, in and near which the enemy 
had concentrated himself. The series of conflicts through Avhich he advanced 
to this point lasted from 8 till 4. Q^uitman entered the city, in which the 
enemy had from 4,000 to 5,000 men, with 500 men. About 11 o'clock 
he was reinforced by a regiment of dismounted Texans under General 
Henderson, and at 1 o'clock by two companies of regular infantry, with 
a section of Bragg's light artillery. 

Fighting on foot at the head of his troops, and obliged, for want of a 
sufficient staff, to pass from point to point as he advanced, he nevertheless 
had again the good fortune to escape. Occupying at one time the roof of 
a house as a point of observation, the parapet was literally stuccoed with 
the enemy's bullets, and one passed through the rim of his cap. At the 
close of this action the troops were withdrawn. General Taylor determined 
to concert with Worth a simultaneous assault for the next day; but in 
the meantime overtures were made by the enemy for a capitulation, which 
was finally agreed upon and signed. 

This action of the 23d in the town is described by General Taylor, in 
the brief but graphic language which marks his official despatches: 

" This advance was conducted vigorously, but with due caution ; and al- 
though destructive to the enemy, was attended with small loss on our part." 

Of his brilliant achievement on the 21st, his immediate commander, the 
gallant Butler, thus handsomely speaks: 

'* General Quitman had before him a field in which military genius and skill 
were called into requisition, and honors could be fairly won; and I but echo 
the general voice in saying that he nobly availed himself of the occasion." 

It has been alleged that General Q^uitman was opposed to the capitula- 
tion of Monterey, and he has even been censured for that opposition. In 
this sketch of his life, it would perhaps be disingenuous not to notice 
the allegation and to admit its truth. His opposition was founded upon 
the conviction that the enemy was completely in our power, and that much 
would be lost in the progress of the war by the suspension of hostilities 
at the period and under the existing circumstances; but it is also true that 
he was not officially consulted. General Taylor having acted, as he had. a 
right to do, upon his own judgment, and without calling a council of war. 
If public opinion is still divided, as it doubtless is, as to the good policy of 
that capitulation. General Q^uitman would seem to be no more answerable 
for his private opinion, right or wrong, than any other officer or citizen. 

Upon the Georgia regiment coming up and joining General Taylor soon 
after the battle, it was attached to General Quitman's brigade; and upon 
the retirement of General Buder to recover from his severe wound, and the 
death of the lamented General Hamer, the whole volunteer division fell 
under the command of General duitman. The drilling of the troops was 



20 

resumed, and, as may be well conceived, with all the zeal and ardor arising 
from the sense of their recent achievements, and the confident hope they 
inspired of the future. 

At this period the government had determined to take a new base of 
operations, and with this view to occupy Tampico, and afterwards Vera 
Cruz. In pursuance of this design^ General Taylor, about the middle of 
December, took up his line of march in the direction of Yictoria, the capital 
of Tamaulipas, with the divisions of Twiggs and Quitman. Upon 
reaching Montemorelos, he was arrested by information from General 
Worth, in command at Saltillo, (in which the latter appears to have been 
misled,) that Santa Anna was rapidly advancing from San Luis de Potosi 
with an imposing force. UnwiUing to relinquish the object of his march, 
and yet unable to disregard the information received from General Worth, 
he divided his force, and retracing his steps with Twiggs, confided to 
Quitman the important trust of continuing the movement upon Victoria 
with the residue of the troops. These now consisted of the first Tennes- 
see regiment, Colonel Campbell; the second, Colonel Haskell; the Georgia 
regiment, Colonel Jackson; the Baltimore battalion, Major Buchanan; and 
a section of artillery of two pieces; amounting in all to about 2,200 men. 
It was known that Generals Valencia and Urrea were in the mountains 
with some 3,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, and that the town of Victoria 
had recently been, and was supposed still to be, occupied by a considerable 
force. In the storming of Fort Tanneria, General Quitman had exhibited 
a headlong valor bordering upon rashness. In his advance into the city, 
whilst contesting the ground from square to square, he had exhibited cau- 
tion. It remained to be seen whether he possessed knowledge of details 
and circumspection enough for a service which now eminently required 
both. 

His road lay through a wild and almost impracticable route, never before 
trodden by American troops. The enemy hovered upon his flank, and 
Mexican signal fires gleamed every night from the slopes of the Sierra 
Madre. But his vigilance never slumbered; and such were his forecast, 
prudence, and management, that no accident whatever occurred. At 
Santa Angracia, sixteen miles from Victoria, he broke up the quarters of 
Colonel Lambert with 300 lancers; but, wholly without cavalry, was una- 
ble to pursue and capture them. At this point he had every reason to 
expect serious resistance at Victoria. Nothing was known of General Pat- 
terson, who was to advance from the Rio Grande; but he nevertheless 
prosecuted his march, and on the 29th December entered the town, the 
enemy flying to the mountains, as he approached, in the direction of Tula. 
Having raised the standard ( f the Union on the government house, under 



21 

a salute of artillery^ he posted part of his troops in the town, and with the 
rest took a position to command the mountains in the direction of the re- 
treat of the enemy, causing at the same time the several passes of the 
mountains to be explored by Lieutenant Meade of the engineers, by whom 
the duty was well performed. Two circumstances connected with this 
march deserve to be mentioned; one of them as creditable to the general, 
the other to his troops. In consequence of his practice on this as well as on 
other occasions, whenever a defile was to be passed, to superintend him- 
self the passage of the troops and the train, not a man nor a wagon 
was lost upon the march. Such was the order, good conduct, and mod- 
eration of the volunteers, that when, a short time after, General Taylor 
followed, by the same route, the inhabitants voluntarily spoke in the hand- 
somest terms of their behaviour. 

General Taylor, upon his return with Twiggs's division to Saltillo, 
having found that the alarm which carried him back was unfounded, im- 
mediately recommenced his march, and reached Victoria on the same day 
(early in January, lS47)on which Patterson arrived with his division from 
the Rio Grande. By direction of General Scott, who had arrived on the 
Rio Grande and assumed command of the army, General Taylor returned 
to Monterey, taking with him the Mississippi regiment. The Illinois regi- 
ment, then commanded by Major Harris, was now added to General Quit- 
man's command, and the two Tennessee regiments taken from it; and 
with this modification of his brigade, he marched to Tampico. At this 
place the Illinois regiment again fell under the command of General 
Shields ; and the Alabama regiment. Colonel Coffee, and the South Caro- 
lina regiment, Colonel Butler, were attached to the brigade of General 
Quitman, with which, except the Baltimore battalion, left by order of 
General Scott to garrison Tampico, he sailed for Vera Cruz. 

The debarkation of the troops under General Scott at Vera Cruz has 
been so graphically and glowingly described, and the account must be 
so fresh in the recollection of every one, that it seems altogether unneces- 
sary to repeat the description. In establishing the hne of investment, 
Quitman's brigade was much of the time in advance, and was engaged in 
several sharp skirmishes with the enemy. He gave the usual evidence, 
throughout the brilliant operations that resulted in the fall of Vera Cruz 
and its almost impregnable castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, of his activity and 
forwardness where fighting was to be done, in a greater loss of men than 
occurred in any other brigade of the army. 

It is reasonable to conclude that both General Scott and General Taylor 
entertained predilections, not to say prejudices, in favor of the officers of 
the regular army, and against those recently brought into the service, 



22 

« 

whether in the volunteers or the additional army. Soldiers by profession j. 
and sufficiently imbued with its spirit, it was natural, and perhaps not 
altogether improper in itself, that a certain degree of merit should be pre- 
sumed in those who had been long in the service ; whilst;, in favor of 
those but recently introduced, it was to be admitted only so far as they 
estabhshed their claims^ by incontestable soldiership^ upon actual trial. 
Quitman, by his conduct at Monterey, in the march from Montemorelos 
to Victoria, as well as at the siege and in the capture of Vera Cruz, had 
now evidently established his; and hence, upon the fall of the city and 
castle, we find him selected for a separate command^ in an expedition by 
land against Alvarado and the neighboring towns, to co-operate with a 
naval armament then fitting out under Commodore Perry. These two 
commanders immediately held a conference, and came to a harmonious 
understanding that the forces of the two arms should act in concert, each 
party agreeing not to enter the city, nor to attack it, in case resistance 
should be offered, until the land and naval forces could unite. For this 
purpose appropriate signals were agreed upon. 

Strengthened by Major Beall's squadron of dragoons, and by a section 
of artillery under Lieutenant Judd, the brigade, consisting of the Georgia, 
Alabama, and South CaroHna regiments, left its camp before Vera Cruz, 
at 3 o'clock p. m. on the 30th March. Its route lay through the deep 
and heavy sands of the seashore for eleven miles, to the mouth of the 
Medelin river, which it reached that evening. Crossing the river the 
next morning, the infantry by a bridge of boats at its mouth, and the ar- 
tillery and dragoons by a ford found above, it continued its march partly 
along the beach, through deep sands, and partly over a plain country in 
rear of Lizardo. The troops continued to advance on the 1st April by 
the occasional aid of the company of pioneers, in felling trees and level- 
ling the ground. 

At the distance of about ten miles from Alvarado, General Quitmai^ 
received a note from Midshipman Temple, whom Lieutenant Hunter had 
left in charge of the town. He immediately pushed on with the cavalry 
to the neck of land in rear of the town, hoping to cut off the retreat of 
the garrison, leaving the infantry and artillery to follow by a more 
practicable route. The garrison, however, had escaped, and several 
vessels, which but for the act of Lieutenant Hunter might have been 
taken, had been removed up the river and scuttled. Commodore Perry 
had set sail at the moment General Q,uitman commenced his march, and 
had arrived in town half an hour before him. He made a proper expla- 
nation of the apparent violation of their agreement. It appeared that 
Lieutenant Hunter having been ordered to cruise off the port in the 



23 

steamer Scourge, had fired a gun, upon which the authorities, regarding 
it as a summons, and convinced of their inabiUty to resist the large land 
and naval force known to be approaching, sent out an offer of submis- 
sion. Alvarado contained a population of from 1,200 to 1,500 inhabitants, 
and was protected on the water side by five batteries, mounting 22 guns. 
The objects of the expedition were fully accomplished. It is true that 
the actual surrender of the town had been made to Lieutenant Hunter, 
but evidently under stress of the approaching force. Commissioners from 
the town of Tlacotalpa, above, met the two commanders at Alvarado, and, 
together with commissioners from it, made an unconditional surrender of 
the two tov/ns and of the surrounding country, rich in the supplies re- 
quired by the army. At the same time, the population was favorably 
impressed and conciliated by the good conduct of the troops. 

Returning to Vera Cruz, General Quitman found that a portion of the 
army had already moved towards Jalapa, and that it w^as rumored that the 
enemy had fortified Cerro Gordo, and would probably dispute the passage 
ofourarmyat that place. He also found that all the transportation had 
already been taken up by other divisions of the army. Collecting what 
means he could for transporting his supplies, and eking them out by in- 
ducing his men to carry an additional weight of provisions and ammuni- 
tion, (which they cheerfully did,) he commenced his march; but, notwith- 
standing, was too late to bear part in that batde, having come up in time 
only to hear at a distance the booming of its last heavy guns. 

Pursuing his march to Jalapa, he there reunited his brigade to General 
Patterson's division, and employed the time he remained encamped, about 
three miles beyond that city, in daily improving the discipline of the troops 
by frequent drills. At this point General Scott determined to discharge 
and send home the volunteers of the earlier enrolment^ and ordered Gen- 
eral Patterson to accompany them to the United States. Upon his depar- 
ture the command of the volunteers which remained, consisting of the 
South Carohna, Nev/ York, and two Pennsylvania regiments, with some 
mounted men from Tennessee, devolved upon General Quitman. The 2d 
Pennsylvania regiment, Colonel Roberts, was detached to form part of the 
garrison to be left at Jalapa. With the residue of the command, reinforced 
with Wall's battery, he was ordered to move forward and form a junction 
with Worth, at Perote. Upon reaching Perote the 1st Pennsylvania regi- 
ment, Colonel Wynkoop, was detailed for its garrison, and the residue of 
the division, in conjunction with Worth's, advanced in the direction of 
Puebla. 

Whilst on this march, at Ojo del Agua, General Quitman received 
a commission from the President, dated the 14th April, appointing him 
a Major General in the army of the United States; a promotion the more 



24 

gratifying and flattering, inasmuch as it was conferred without any solicita- 
tioii; and from the President's own sense of the services he had rendered, 
A question of rank with General Worth obviously arose upon the reception 
of this commission J who was a major general only by brevet, and might well 
have been insisted upon by General Quitman, on the ground at least of the 
decision of the War Department upon the like question, which arose at the 
commencement of the war, between General Twiggs and General Worth. 
Pew instances can be found among military men, of more devoted patriot- 
ism than General Quitman exhibited on this occasion. Believing that, in 
the emergency in which the army was placed, the service would be mate- 
rially injured by his insisting upon his claim, he yiekled what he had the 
best reason to consider his strictly legal right, in deference to a different 
opinion expressed by General Scott, and acted for a time under the orders 
of General Worth. It is no small evidence of the magnanimity of both 
these gentlemen, that notwithstanding this conflict upon the delicate ques- 
tion of rank, they continued to serve and' act together on the most friendly 
and harmonious terms. 

Worth marching in the advance, reached Amozoque, within eight 
miles of Puebla, early in June. The following morning, Santa Anna 
learning that Quitman was advancing with his small division of volun- 
teers, encumbered with a heavy train of w^agons, left Puebla at an early 
hour with about 3,000 cavalry, and endeavored (o move past Amozoque, 
with a view to attack him, bef ne he could form a junction with Worth. 
The movement being discovered by Worth, he despatched Garland, with 
Duncan's battery, to attack the enemy. As the latter attempted to pass 
on the north side of the town, Duncan's battery opened an active and 
efficient fire, which forced them to oblique to the left. The movement 
of Santa Anna was predicated upon the belief that he would find Quit- 
man some miles back, in the defile of the Pifial ; but the celerity and 
order with which his command of volunteers moved, was not, it would 
seem, an element of his calculation. When the cannonade commenced^ 
Quitman, by making an early start, had passed the defile w^ith his heavy 
train, and was already within three miles of the town with his whole 
force, in compact column of route. No sooner was the enemy per- 
ceived, than the line was formed and ready to receive the expected charge. 
Squadron after squadron of the enemy advanced and wheeled into line in 
front, presenting an imposing but still a beautiful sight. Three cheers from 
the volunteers evinced at once their determination to meet the expected 
shock of a superior force. The enemy contented himself, however, with re- 
connoitring the steady line; and eyeing for awhile the bristling bayonets 
that gleamed in his front, dashed off into the mountains and disappeared in 



25 

the rear. In an hour the junction with Worth was effected. The next 
morning the two divisions marched into the city of Puebla, exhibiting 
one of the most remarkable spectacles ever recorded in the history of war, 
of a detachment of less than 3,000 men, ninety miles in advance of the 
main army, fearlessly entering a hostile city, containing a population of 
more than 100,000 souls. Arrived in the plaza, the little band of Ameri- 
cans were scarcely perceivable, in the vast crowd of scowling Mexicans 
that surrounded them. 

Upon the arrival of General Scott in Puebla, General Q.uitm.an made 
formal application to him for a command suitable to his new rank. Gen. 
Scott, unwilling to disturb the existing organization of the army, declined 
a compliance, but in doing so, expressed an anxious desire that General 
Quitman should remain with the army and take the command of the vol- 
unteers, together with the battalion of marines under Lieutenant Colonel 
Watson. Again was General Quitman called upon to sacrifice his feelings, 
as a military man, upon the altar of patriotism. The second in lineal rank 
of the four generals commanding divisions, he considered it unjust to assign 
him to the smallest of those divisions. But, keen as his sensibility was at 
this decision of the commander-in-chief, he could not reconcile himself to the 
alternative of leaving the army at so critical a period of the campaign, and 
therefore yielded, and proceeded with the army for the valley of Mexico; 
his division now consisting of the New York, South Carolina, and second 
Pennsylvania regiments, the battalion of marines, Steptoe's battery, and 
Gaither's troop of horse, moving the second in the order of march. 

On the 8th August, Quitman commenced his march from Puebla, 
Twiggs having preceded him on the 7th, and Worth and Pillow following 
respectively, on the 9th and 10th. As the army crossed the mountain 
range which separates the valley of Puebla or Cholula from Mexico, and 
emerged from the cloudy canopy that hung upon its crest, before them lay, 
like a garden, the beautiful valley of Mexico, (in which so many were 
destined to find their graves,) spotted with its bright lakes and green fields, 
and the white domes and ghttering spires of the villages which environ the 
capital. So transparent was the atmosphere of this elevated region, that 
large bodies of the enemy's cavalry could here and there be distinctly 
seen moving on the plain. Quitman's division was ordered to encamp at 
the village of Buena Yista, near the intersection of the two roads leading, 
one to the city by the strong fortress of the Pefion, the other to the village 
of Chalco, and the difficult route round the lake of that name. After 
carefully reconnoitring the positions of the enemy, in front of the city, it 
was the first intention of the commanding general to force the strong 
works of the enemy at Mexicalcingo. This intention was eventually 
abandoned; and the whole army moved by successive divisions, along the 



26 

difficult and circuitous route, around the left bank of lake Chalco, and was 
concentrated at Tlalpam, otherwise called San Augustine, about six miles 
from the city. This point being determined upon as the depot of the 
army, General Quitman, with the second Pennsylvania regiment and the 
marines, was placed in charge of it. The other portion of the division, 
under Shields, distinguished themselves at Contreras and Churubusco, 
suffering severely at the latter by their desperate valor. The depot contain- 
ed the sick and wounded of the army, as well as the siege, supply, and bag- 
gage trains. General Scott in his report says: ^' If these had been lost, the 
army would have been driven almost to despair; and considering the enemy's 
very great excess of numbers, and the many approaches to the depot, it might 
well have become emphcXt'ically the post of Jmior.^^ Still, to a bold and in- 
trepid spirit like Quitman's, an active command in the advance v/ould 
have been far preferable, and was in fact earnestly sought. But he had 
established a reputation for the other not less important qualities of a com- 
mander — prudence, vigilance, and circumspection j and having but a small 
force to spare for the protection of the depot, it was natural and proper 
enough that General Scott should desire to give it all the aid it could de- 
rive, from the personal qualities of the officer in command. Quitman, 
however, did not remain wholly inactive even here. On the morning of 
the 20th August, (arrangements haying been made the overnight to attack 
the enemy at Contreras,) Quitman was ordered to move in that direction, 
whilst Harney with his cavalry should occupy the depot. He eagerly ad- 
vanced to the field; but the battle being already won, and the depot threat- 
ened by the cavalry of the enemy, he was ordered back to his post. 

The brilliant victories of the 20th prostrated the enemy. General Scott 
considering that the prospects of peace would be promoted by agreeing to 
a preliminary armistice instead of taking the city, concluded to entertain 
propositions for that purpose, and selected General Quitman as one of the 
commissioners, on the part of the United States, to arrange the terms. 
Although his opinions were known to be against the cessation of hostili- 
ties, from a thorough distrust of Mexican sincerity, he yet consented to 
act, in order to assist in obtaming such terms as would secure the safety 
of the army, durmg the supension. The breach of the terms of the ar- 
mistice by Santa Anna, and the shameless admission of having employed 
its period in strengthening the works, but too well vindicated the opin- 
ion of General Quitman, of the character of the enemy. 

Upon the renewal of hostilities, the depot was removed from San Au- 
gustine to Miscoac, near Tacubaya. General Quitman was thus relieved 
from the burdensome as well as responsible duties of the reserve, and his 
division accordingly advanced to Coyoacan. At this period, the American 
army was in the condition of Pyrhus, after his repeated victories over the 



27 

Romans. Though uniformly successful, its successes had been purchased 
by a great relative loss of men, and this loss it was without the means of 
supplying. The Mexicans, on the contrary, had gained experience from 
defeat. They had made use of the period of the armistice, to strengthen 
their defences. They could not be greatly deceived now, as to the quarter 
from which the attacks would come, and it is certain that very gloomy fore- 
bodings began to find their way, amongst the officers and men of our 
army. 

The city of Mexico is situated upon a slight elevation of ground, almost 
entirely surrounded by a deep ditch or canal, serving the several purposes 
of drainage, of collecting the imposts, and of military defence of the city. 
There are eight gates over arches across this canal into the city, each de- 
fended by a system of strong works. 

On the llth September, General Scott made a personal survey of the 
southern gates, opposite to which his army lay ; and in order to mask his 
ulterior designs, ordered Pillow's and Uuitman's divisions, during day- 
light, to take up positions before them, and after night, to proceed to posi- 
tions further west, and opposite to the strong fortification of Chapultepec, 
not far from which were his own headquarters, with Worth's division at 
Tacubaya. Twiggs's division was left to threaten— to make false attacks, 
to occupy and to deceive the enemy. 

The fortification of Chapultepec stands nearly west of the city, and at 
the distance of about two miles; it is a natural mound of great elevation, 
surrounded by a wall fifteen feet high, and strongly fortified at its base, 
upon its acclivities, and by the castle which surmounts it. Besides a nu- 
merous garrison, it contained the officers and students oftheMiUtary Acad- 
emy of Mexico, maintained within at. It was this fortification, which it 
had now become a matter of the last necessity of the American army to 
carry, and which it was, of course, of equal importance to the enemy to 
defend. 

Two routes lead from Chapultepec to the city: one on the right, which, 
coming south from Tacubaya, turns to the east at Chapultepec and enters 
the gate Belen, together with the road which there meets it, coming south 
from Piedad; the other, on the left, runs northeast, falls into the road 
corning west, and enters the gate of San Cosme. 

Each of these routes is an elevated causeway, with a double road- way 
on the sides of an aqueduct of strong masonry, resting on open arches and 
massive pillars. The sideways were defended by many strong breast- 
works at the gates, as well as at other points. The grounds on both sides 
of each route are low and marshy. 

Quitman's division, now consisting of the New York and South Caro- 
lina regiments; under Shields, the Pennsylvania regiment under Colonel 



28 

Geary, and the battalion of marines under Major Twiggs, took its position 
directly south of Chapultepec, and near the road or causeway leading from 
Tacubaya; Pillow's division took its position to the left of Quitman and 
nearly west from the fortress. Each division was furnished with two heavy 
batteries^ which, preparatory to the assault designed for the 13th; kept up a 
constant fire on the works during the 12th and part of the next morning. 
During the 12th, General Q,uitman, accompanied by his aid. Lieutenant 
Lovell, succeeded in making a close personal reconnoissance of the works of 
the enemy, creeping for this purpose behind some maguay bushes which 
grew near; and the latter had even made a rough sketch of the grounds and 
works, including the position of two batteries of five guns immediately in 
front, before they were discovered, and were obliged to retire. In the skir- 
mish with the garrison, which this bold reconnoissance drew out of the 
works, seven men were wounded, but information of the greatest value to 
the operations of the next day was gained. In the course of the night, a 
picket guard of fifty men, under Captain Paul, was put forward on the road, 
in order to prevent reinforcements from being thrown in, from the side to- 
wards the city. 

A storming party of two hundred and fifty men was furnished General 
Pillow from Worth's division, and a like number was furnished General 
Q,uitman from Twiggs's. Worth's division was ordered to hold itself in 
reserve, to support Pillow, and General P. F. Smith's brigade was ordered 
to support Quitman . Gen. Quitman was confident of being able to carry the 
works of Chapultepec, and, in anticipation of success, had obtained the au- 
thority of General Scott, thereupon, immediately to advance against the city. 

Thus, in every way prepared that their resources allowed, or skill 
and prudence could suggest, at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 13th 
September, the eventful moment that ushered in the great and croAvning 
struggle of the campaign had arrived, and the preconcerted signal — the 
momentary cessation of the firing of the heavy guns — was given. 

Pillow's advance on the west side lay through an open grove filled with 
sharp-shooters, who were speedily dislodged. Pressing forward, Pillow 
received a wound at the base of the hill ; and having called on Worth for 
support, the latter immediately despatched Clarke's brigade, which 
promptly joined the assaulting forces, and with them fought its way up 
the acclivity. The residue of Worth's division some time after, under 
orders from General Scott, moved round on the northern and outer side 
of Chapultepec, and formed on the San Cosme road. 

Simultaneously with Pillow's movement on the west, Quitman advanced 
to the southeast of the works, over the Tacubaya road or causeway, flank- 
ed by deep ditches and wet marshes on either side, and directly in front 
of the two batteries at the base of the works. At the same time he 



29 

ordered General Smith to move to the right in reserve, with the storming 
partjr, to engage the enemy posted to the east of the works, to keep off 
assailants on that side, and at the moment of assault, to cross the aque- 
duct leading to the city, and cut off the retreat of the enemy. Pausing 
for a moment under the partial shelter of some dilapidated buildings, 
within three hundred yards of the batteries, until the heads of the New 
York and South Carolina regiments arrived, duitman pushed them, under 
Shields, obliquely to the left, together with the Pennsylvania regiment, 
across the marshy ground^ to the wall at the base of the hill. These pre- 
liminary movements were not effected, but under the most galling fire, and 
the most severe loss. The South Carolina regiment having crossed the wall 
by breaching it, the New York and Pennsylvania regiments having entered 
through an abandoned battery on their left, and the marines being posted to 
support tlie storming parties, Q^uitman ordered the assault at all points. 

Never had the Mexicans exhibited as much determined resolution. 
They defended their positions, hand to hand, and step by step; but nothing 
could resist the steady gallantry of the regular troops, on the eastern side, 
or the enthusiasm of the volunteers, on the southern, as, mingling their 
rival colors with those of Pillow, they emulously straggled up, from work 
to work, until they entered the military college which crowned the sum- 
mit, and there erected the glorious signal of their momentous victory. 

It is upon occasions of great successes or great reverses, that the most 
marked indications of genius are apt to display themselves. Quitman pro- 
ceeded, without loss of time, to turn this victory to the best account. Giv- 
ing the proper orders for the safekeeping of his prisoners, for fresh supplies of 
ammunition to be furnished, and for the different corps under his command 
to form upon the Belen road, he ascended to the top of the hill, to recon- 
noitre the enemy. General Smith had already taken the precaution to level 
the parapet, and fill up the ditch for the passage of artillery, and Captain 
Drum had taken one of the enemy's pieces from the works, and was advan- 
cing with the rifles, against a battery occupied by the enemy, in front. Gen- 
eral Quitman perceived large bodies of the enemy, at the several batteries 
on the road, and advanced the rifles, supported by the South Carolina regi- 
ment and followed by the remainder of Smith's brigade, from arch to 
arch, under the causeway, against another strong battery thrown across 
the road about a mile from Chapultepec, having four embrasures, with a 
redan work, on the right. This work was carried by assault, after an obsti- 
nate resistance, and the column was immediately reorganized for the 
attack on the garita Belen. This gate was defended by 3 guns within it; 
by the citadel, distant 300 yards, mounting 15 guns; by 2 guns in the paseo 
on the right of the gate and near the citadel, and by breastworks and en- 
trenchments on the Piedad road; on the left. The rifle and South Caroli- 



30 

na regiments, intermingled, were placed in front, three rifles and three bayo- 
nets, under each arch, supported by the residue of Shields's and Smith's 
brigades, the Pennsylvania regiment^ and part of the 6th infantry under 
Major Bonneville, which had fallen into this road. Santa Anna was in 
person at this gate, and animated the Mexicans, by his presence, to the most 
obstinate resistance. The column advanced from arch to arch, under the 
most galling and destructive fire. A 16-pounder was brought to bear di- 
rectly into the garita, and some rounds of canister were thrown upon the 
enemy on the Piedad road, whose enfilading fire annoyed the advancing 
column. Well understanding the tactics adapted to the Mexican character, 
Quitman promptly determined upon an assault; and collecting a party of 
400 men for the purpose, was giving instructions to Major Loring, the 
officer selected to lead it, when the left arm of that gallant officer was car- 
ried away by a cannon ball. No other officer of the proper rank being for 
the moment at hand, General Quitman placed himself at the head of the 
party, and b3ing uncommonly active^ was the first within the works. Rais- 
ing his handkerchief, for want of a flag, upon a rifle barrel, he waved his 
men forward, and in a few minutes the whole column was compactly 
up — a large portion within the garita, and a position thus actually 
established within the city, at twenty minutes past one. But his 
situation was still one of great peril: a constant fire was kept up from 
the several works around, and several saUies were made to dislodge him, 
the enemy redoubling their exertions upon perceiving that the ammu- 
nition of his heavy guns was exhausted, and which, from the severity 
of the fire, it was impossible to re-supply. But the constancy of the volun- 
teers and other troops with him was unshaken. They gallantly maintain- 
ed their awful position, until night put an end to the fire. But the dark- 
ness, though for the time it terminated the struggle, was but the signal 
for severer toil, in providing defences to maintain his position. During 
the night, by indefatigable exertions on the part of his men, he had 
procured a supply of ammunition and sand bags, and had erected two bat- 
teries mounting three heavy guns, together with a breastwork on his 
right, and at dawn the next morning was just ready to open his fire upon 
the citadel, when it off'ered to surrender. During the night General Pierce 
had reported to him with the 9th regiment, and was advantageously posted 
in his rear. Leaving the Pennsylvania regiment to garrison the citadel, 
and learning that great depredations were being committed in the National 
Palace, he moved the residue of his troops to that point and took posses- 
sion. The circumstance of his planting the American flag upon the National 
Palace is characteristic of the man. Perceiving one of the men, with the 
color of his regiment, hastily advancing to erect it upon the Palace, he 
checked him: ^' Stay, my brave fellow/' said he^ ^^the first American 



31 

flag that floats over that proud edifice must not be the flag of any regi- 
ment y but the^a^- of our Union. ^^ * 

Whilst these rapid movements and severe conflicts, from the moment of 
leaving Chapultepec, were going forward under Quitman, the gallant 
Worth, with his own division, both the portion that had passed through 
Chapultepec and that which had passed round on the north of it, and with 
Pillow's, now acting with it, was encountering similar difficulties and con- 
flicts, and with the like brilliant successes, on the San Cosme route. He 
established himself within the garita San Cosme between 8 and 9 o'clock 
p. m. of the same day, and might have been at the Palace as early as 
Quitman the next morning if he had not been specially instructed by Gen- 
eral Scott to halt at the Alameda. 

In speaking of these respective points of attack. General Scott, in his re- 
port of the capture of the city, remarks: 

" I had been from the first well aware that the western or San Cosme was the 
less difficult route to the centre and conquest of the capital, and therefore in- 
tended that Quitman should only mancEuvre and threaten the Belen or south- 
western gate, in order to favor the main attack by Worth, knowing that the 
strong defences of the Belen were directly under the guns of the much stronger 
fortress, called the citadel, just within. Both of these defences of the enemy were 
also within easy supporting distance from the San Angel or Nino Perdido and 
San Antonio gates. Hence the greater support in numbers given to Worth's 
movement as the main attack." 

Upon attentively regarding the circumstances attending the many severe 
conflicts of this day, on the part of the several corps and descriptions of 
troops engaged, and particularly this explicit testimony of General Scott, 
who can doubt, that the volunteers, of which Quitman's command was 
chiefly composed, have fully realized the anticipations that were formed of 
them, and are a safe and sure reliance, for any emergency in which the 
country may be placed ? or that their favorite leader fully merited the im- 
portant command iutrusied to him, and the grateful applause which has 
attended the valuable services, it was his good fortune to render in the 
exercise of it? To have equalled the regular troops of the army — and these, 
too, led by so accomplished a commander as Worth — would seem as high 
praise as could well be bestowed ; but, on this occasion, though it would 
hardly be excusable to say that they surpassed them — for to surpass such 
troops, so led, must needs be impossible — yet it is certain, that Quitman's 
command, though so inferior in number, had by far the more difficult part 
to accomplish, and was notwithstanding in the advance, in the accomplish- 
ment of that part. And in this connexion it cannot be considered invid- 
ious, as it is indeed unavoidable, to remark upon the singular and 
extraordinary coincidence v/hich placed these two gallant officers, 

* The officer selected by General Q,uitman for the honor of erecting this flag was Captain 
Roberts, of the rifles. 



32 

under different comn:ianding generals, and in different campaigns 
in relations to each other, so nearly parallel, in the capture of the only two 
Mexican cities, taken by assault, in the course of the war. Both at Mon- 
terey and at Mexico, Worth led the regular troops, and in double the force 
jn the main attack ; whilst Quitman, with the volunteers, and intended 
to operate a diversion in his favor, was the first, on each occasion, to 
enter the city. 

On the same day the American army entered the city of Mexico, General 
Quitman was appointed its civil and military governor, and, with his ac- 
customed zeal and diligence, in whatever he undertakes, immediately 
entered upon the discharge of these new, complex, diversified, and delicate 
duties. He regulated the police, inquired into abuses, repressed libellous 
publications against the Americans, administered justice, and protected 
the inhabitants in their persons and property. In the various cases which 
came before him, touching the rights and demands of the late government^ 
or in which an adverse title was set up to real estate, or to goods in store. 
or other property taken, as belonging to it, he gave written opinions, with 
as careful deliberation and as firm a purpose to do justly, as if he had re- 
sumed and was exercising his former functions of chancellor; and with 
as much ability, too, it is to be supposed ; for of the many cases, in which 
appeals were taken from his decisions to the commanding general, not 
one, it is believed, was reversed. 

But these duties, however creditable might be their proper discharge, 
he was willing to assmme, but for a short time, and under the peculiar cir- 
cumstances in which they were undertaken. He still felt himself ag- 
grieved, in not being assigned a command adequate to his rank; and con- 
sidering that the fighting was now done, he renewed his demand; and in 
compliance with his request. General Scott on the 26th October, 1847, 
ordered him to proceed to the United States and report, in person, at the 
War Department, to enable him to bring the question before the President. 
He reached New Orleans on the 3Istof thesame month, and after passing 
a short time with his family at Natchez, arrived at Washington on the 27th 
December last. Whilst awaiting the decision of the government, he made 
a short visit to the north, to attend to some matters of private business and 
to visit his relations. 

On his way to Washington, accompanied by General Shields, the two 
generals were everywhere received with enthusiastic demonstrations of 
regard and respect. They were formally received by each house of the 
legislatures of the several States of Alabama, South Carolina, and Vir- 
ginia, and severally delivered addresses in reply. At Washington, they 
were complimented with a public dinner by gentlemen of both the polit- 
ical paiiies of the day, of the Senate and House of Representatives, of- 



33 

ficers of the army and navy, and civil officers of the government, and 
citizens ; and General Q,aitman, as a native of New York, was invited by 
joint resolution to visit the legislature of that State, then in session at Al- 
bany. At New York the concourse of citizens which received, in the 
person of a native citizen of the State, the successful general^ who had 
commanded the vohmteer troops, (a portion of them citizens of New York;) 
who had watched over their health and comfort, in the quiet of the camp 
and the toils of the march^ and had led them to fame and distinction in 
battle, was, as might well be supposed, almost unsurpassed. In Albany his 
reception was not less cordial and ardent, though the display was, of course 
from the more limited population, less imposing. His responses to the 
many addresses delivered to him, on all these occasions, were characterized 
by modesty, good taste, and correct and elevated views. There is scarce- 
ly any allusion to his own distinguished services, in any of them ; but he 
expatiated with delight upon the toils endured, the difficulties overcome, 
and the unparalleled achievements gained, by the army at large. He 
spoke, with the fervor of the patriot statesman, of the peculiar fitness of 
the American citizen — his body hardened by honest industry, and his 
mind strengthened by habits of thought — above all people upon the face 
of the globe, to constitute a brave and efficient soldier. As commander of 
the volunteers he testified, before their friends and relatives, to their 
submission to restraint and discipline, to their respect for the persons and 
property of the Mexican people, and to their uniform exercise of that 
peculiarly American virtue, of mercy to the fallen foe, even under the 
constant provocation of the murder of their comrades wounded in battle 
3r straggling from the lines, and similar departures from the rules of civil- 
zed warfare. 

Although General Quitman had but a share in taking the two Mexi- 
can cities, he has done what the Scriptures declare to be greater than taking 
en cities — he has subdued his temper. Perhaps no man living has ac- 
quired a more complete mastery over his own spirit. His impulses are 
)bviously strong and ardent, even from the indications here apparent of 
lis daring in battle, his moderation in command, his kindness of heart, 
md his devotion, superior to weariness or fatigue, to study and duty ; but 
'ar from yielding ascendency to his passions, he has subdued them to his 
control, and made them his subservient ministers to just and noble ends. 
[t is doubtless as much from the command he has over himself, as from 
lis knowledge of men and the respect inspired by his heroism, that he 
las been enabled to obtain such complete command over his troops, and 
o bring them so soon to submit to the restraints of discipline. Two 
;ignificant instances at once of the qualities ascribed to him, and of the 
ncidents of the campaign, will not be regarded as here out of place. 
4 



34 

Having, according to his practice; attended himself, upon an occasioi 
of halting his column, to the supply of fuel, he was surprised, as it cam< 
into the camp, to find that a company of one of his regiments had already 
lighted its fires,- and a few minutes after, a Mexican came before him t 
complain that his fencing (already down) had been taken by some of hi: 
soldiers. He sent for the colonel, and stating the matter of complaint 
asked ^^ if any of the volunteers from a State distinguished for its chivalr 
and honor could have come there to commit petty depredations upon th 
people of the country?" The colonel knew nothing of the circumstance 
but bowed, and promised to inquire. In half an hour the men had mad 
up a sufficient sum of money among themselves, and a receipt of th 
Mexican was placed in the general's hand, acknowledging satisfaction ii 
full. 

In movmg to the desperate assault upon Chapultepec, and whilst ye 
on the causeway^ one of his soldiers was severely (and, as it in the en( 
proved, mortally) wounded. The general called upon the men near, to re 
move him to a place of safety; but though he repeated the direction, (owinj 
to the severity of the enemy's fire,) no one moved from his place. Turn 
ing immediately to the party near, he said, very gravely, ^^ Gentlemen, th 
men here I am afraid are not to be depended upon. ' ' This mild rebuke wa 
quite effectual to the jescue of the poor fellow. 

General Quitman is now in the forty-ninth year of his age. He i 
nearly six feet high. His countenance is serene and pleasing, indica 
ting calmness of mind and cheerfulness of disposition. His figure 
graceful and commanding, is a model of manly beauty. No one cai 
observe it without being struck with its faultless proportions, or inferring 
what is indeed the fact, its extraordinary agility and almost matchles 
strength. The soul of honor and of chivalry, no considerations of policy o 
expediency, no prospects of advantage however seductive, or danger how 
ever threatening, are able to shake the inflexibility of his principles, o 
move him from the support, or the pursuit of the right. His conversation 
distinguished for elevated views and candid opinions of men and things 
and enriched by erudition, by varied information, and by acute observa 
tion, is highly attractive and interesting. At the same time, his respect fo 
his fellow-man, and his unaffected regard for the courtesies of life, mak^ 
him as ready to hear and candidly weigh the opinions of others, as firmh 
but mildly to defend his own. His heart is Avarmed by an expansiv( 
benevolence. To young men, entering upon life as he did, without th( 
advantages of wealth or patronage, but with the manly purpose to attaii 
an independent position in society by their own exertions, no man has beei 
more frequently a generous and efficient friend than John A. Quitman. 












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